WTN: Dancing on a razor blade

2002 Georg Breuer Riesling Rauenthal Nonnenberg (Rheingau, Germany)

Picked from a restaurant's wine list which is regarded (or self-declared?) the best wine list in Germany. (I leave it up to you to figure out
Exploring this wine impressed me particularly because it somehow changed (or confused?) my view on this vintage and on dry Riesling from Germany.
How can it be that such a Riesling giant emerges from a rainy and difficult vintage? How can dry Riesling from Germany age so well?
Georg Breuer's philosophy must be the answer to these questions.
Breuer uses to pick the grapes at an early stage avoiding high sugar/alcohol content. He allows more time for maceration than other producers. His top wines develop in large wooden barrels. Even with global warming his first growths have just between 11.5 and 12.5% vol. of alcohol.
Youthful bright yellow color. Very subtle on the nose. Pure and natural like a cold creek from the mountains scented with lemons, youthful yellow plums, finest tobacco and sea salt. I can't stop sniffing this wonderful perfume from mother nature. All components of this amazing wine (minerality, acidity, fruit, tannin) are magically integrated and bursting with vitality. Laser-like precision combined with depth, powerful expression and incredible lightness. Actually you cannot single out one aspect of this wine and describe it without touching all its other dimensions. No dry German Riesling that I have tasted so far compares to this. From a stylistic point of view it is similar to Trimbach's Clos Sainte Hune. From an aromatical point of view it is something between a dry-ish old school Fritz Haag Riesling (Mosel) from the 1980ies and a classic Prager Riesling (Wachau) from the 1990ies. To me this is like dancing on a razor blade. - My subjective rating: 96-97/100. If stored perfectly it should keep up well for another 10 years.

[David M. Bueker]

You are the very first person I have ever seen who called 2002 "difficult."

Was it 2001? No. But there are tons of delicious wines, so a good one is not a surprise.

[Jenise]

Love your title description, will have to steal it. I mean, before I read the details I had an exact sense of what the wine would be, and it was.

You are the very first person I have ever seen who called 2002 "difficult."

Was it 2001? No. But there are tons of delicious wines, so a good one is not a surprise.

In August 2002 many wine growing regions in Europe had been affected by extreme thunderstorms and high water situations with significant damage in Germany and Austria (e.g. Wachau). September and October were rainy again, so that the harvest lasted until the middle of November. Good selection was key. Rheingau, as it seems was less affected.

The Riesling wines from 2002 from Germany and Austria I have tasted so far did not show particularly interesting, somehow lacking concentration and expression.

[David M. Bueker]

Well I agree for the most part on Austria, but there are scores of delicious German Rieslings from 2002. Prum, Donnhoff, Leitz, Weil, Wittmann, R. Haart, Vollenweider(!), etc.